Electrical device for forming holes in nursing nipples



Aug. 18, 1959 D. L- MARCANTONIO 2,900,481

ELECTRICAL DEVICE FOR FORMING HOLES IN NURSING NIPPLES Filed Feb. 14,1956 INVENTOR ATTORNEY5 United States Patent ELECTRICAL DEVICE FORFORMING HOLES IN NURSING NIPPLES Daniel L. Marcantonio, Westport, Conn.Application February 14, 1956, Serial No. 565,446

2 Claims. (Cl. 219-29) needle in the flame of a match and then piercethe nipple with the heated needle.

This ruins the needle, and also it is a rather diflicult and delicateoperation, as Well as unreliable, as it is difficult to get the holejust the proper size, and especially is this an unsatisfactory way oftreating the nipple. when the baby is to be fed during the night, as itis not always easy to locate a needle or perform the heating operation,and subsequent piercing of the nipple.

2' It istherefore an object of the present device to pro- Vide a simpleand effective means for forming the opening or'cle'aring the openingalready formed, easily and quickly with a very simple operation and onein which the opening is always formed of the proper and uniform size. 2a

Withtheforegoing and other objects in view, I have devised theconstruction illustrated in the accompanying drawing forming a part ofthis specification. It is, however, to be understood the invention isnot limited to the specific details of construction and arrangementshown, but may embody various changes and modifications within the scopeof the invention.

In this drawing:

Fig. 1 is a side elevation of the upper portion of a nursing bottle witha nipple applied thereto, and a device involving this invention forforming or clearing the opening in the outer free end of the nipple,showing the method of use;

Fig. 2 is a longitudinal section of the device of Fig. 1 on a largerscale;

Fig. 3 is a partial side elevation and partial longitudinal section of amodified form of device for performing this operation, and

Fig. 4 is a longitudinal section showing another modified form of thedevice.

The upper end portion of a nursing bottle or any usual or suitable typeis shown at 10, to which is applied a usual form of nursing nipple 11 inthe free end of which the usual small discharge opening is formed. Thisimproved device for forming or clearing the opening in the free end ofthis nipple comprises a wire preferably in the form of a loop providedby folding a fine wire upon itself to form a relatively sharp pointedend at the fold and the sides lying closely together to form a loop ofthe proper size or diameter to produce an opening of the proper diameterin the nipple. This looped wire is mounted in a suitable support,preferably one forming a suitable handle for manipulating it to form thehole in the nipple, with means in this holder or handle whereby the wiremay be properly heated to form the opening in the nipple.

In the form of Figs. 1 and 2, it is shown in a form similar to a smallflashlight comprising a metal tubular casing 12 in which may be one ormore standard type of batteries 13, and at one end is a flanged shell 14with its peripheral flange 15 seating against an internal shoulder orhead 16 in the casing and clamped against it by a protective head or cap17 threaded into the end of the casing 12 at 18, and at its inner endclamping the flange 15 against the bead or shoulder 16. This alsoestablishes electrical connection between the shell 14 and the casing.This shell 14 has at its free end an inwardly extending inclined head 19into which may be screwed the threaded metal shell 20, similar to a lampbulb shell, carrying a central contact 21 at its inner end and having aninsulating filling or support 22 at its outer end in which are mountedconnecting wires 23 and 24, the Wire 23 being connected to the shell 14at 25, and the wire 24 being connected to the central contact 21. Theprotective cap or head 17 may be of any suitable material such, forexample, as porcelain or glass-coated metal, and has an open free orouter end 26 through which projects a closed loop of fine wire filament27. This is preferably a fine wire filament folded upon itself to form arelatively sharp outer end 28 and the sides soldered or welded to thewires 23 and 24 at their inner ends, the sides being close together toform a loop of the proper size to produce the desired size of opening inthe nursing nipple 11 of the nursing bottle. It is preferably of about.010 in diameter and positioned to project about of an inch beyond theopen end 26 of the protective cap 17. When the element comprising thethreaded shell 20, the conductor wires 23, 24 and this filament 27 aremounted in the casing 12, its central contact 21 engages the centralcontact 29 of the battery 13. At its lower end a spring 30 engages theend of the metal shell 31 of the battery and rests on the top of theconductor plate 32 carried by an insulating plate 33 connected to a stem34 projecting from the lower end of the casing, so arranged thatpressing inwardly on the stem 34 will force the conductor plate 32inwardly to engage inwardly projecting lugs 35 in the casing, thusclosing the circuit from the battery through the spring 30 and plate 32to the casing, from this casing through the shell 14 through thethreaded member 20 and the filament 27 back to the central contact 29 ofthe battery, thus heating the filament 27. When heated its pointed endmay be pressed against the end of the nipple 11, as indicated in Fig. 1,and quickly and eifectively form the proper sized opening in the end ofthe nipple 11. This automatically sterilizes the filament 27 and itquickly and effectively forms a proper sized opening in the nipple, witha simple operation, as the whole device may be easily held in one handwhile depressing the stem 34 to heat the filament.

In Fig. 3 is shown a form of device which is designed to be used where alarge number of nipples are to be treated, as, for example, in ahospital, although of course it may be adapted for use in a private homeas well as the form of device of Figs. 1 and 2. It comprises a suitableholder or handle 36 in one end of which is mounted an insulating support37 carrying a central contact 38 and a conductor Wire 39 connected toshell 14 similar to that used in the form of Fig. 2, with anotherconductor 40 connected to the central contact 38. Mounted in the shell14 is the threaded member 20 and the other elements the same as in theform of Fig. 2, with the central contact 21 engaging the contact 38. Thelead wires 39 and 40 are connected at 41 and 42 to a control rheostat 43having contact blades 44 by which it may be plugged into the standardtype of electrical receptacle 45 in a house or hospital wiring system,with a rotatable head forming a finger grip '46 by which the rheostatmay be adjusted to control the current supplied through the leads 39 and40 to the filament 27 to heat it. After this is once set to heat thefilament to the proper temperature it will be seen it may be effectivelyand easily used to form the openings in any number of nursing nipples.The heat of the filament automatically sterilizes it.

It will be seen that in the form of Figs. 1 to 3 the filament 27 isheated by passing an electric current through it, it thus being heatedby using the wire itself as a resistance wire, but it may be heatedindirectly by another heating element. Such a device is shown by way ofexample in Fig. 4, in which a handle or support 47 carries in one end ametal shell 48 enclosing an electrical heating resistance element 49carried by any suitable insulating support 50 and to which lead wiresmay be connected, such, for example, as the lead wires 39 and 40 of thedevice of Fig. 3, or any suitable battery set-up. At its other end ismounted a fine wire filament 551 corresponding to the filament 27 of theother forms and projecting from the open end 52 of the protective cap53, which may be of the same material as the cap 17 of the prior forms,and the wire of this filament 51 is secured at its inner ends to themetal shell 48 so that it is heated by the heat from the heating element49, which heats the shell 48 which conducts the heat to the filament 51.Other wise'this device is the same as the other forms and it is used inthe same way to form the opening in the nursing nipple, as previouslydescribed.

It will be clear from the above that this provides a very simple andeffective device for quickly and easily forming the proper sizedopening, or properly clearing the opening in the nursing nipple; that itautomatically sterilizes itself, it is easily and quickly prepared forthe nipple-piercing operation, and that it always forms the proper sizeopening in the nipple.

Having thus set forth the nature of my invention, I claim:

1. In a device of the character described, a tubular handle member, afine wire bent upon itself to form a loop with a relatively sharp pointat the bend, means removably mounting the wire in the handle member withsaid point projecting a short distance therefrom comprising a conductorsocket mounted in the handle adjacent one end, a metal shell removablymounted in said socket in contact therewith and including a centralcontact at its inner end, means mounting said loop in the shellincluding conductor wires to which the loop is fastened and which wiresare connected with the shell and central contact, and means forsupplying an electric current connected with said socket and centralcontact for supplying a current to the loop for heating the wire andpointed end to form a discharge opening in a nursing nipple by placingthe projecting heated pointed end of the wire against the nipple.

2. In a device of the character described, a tubular handle member, afine wire bent upon itself to form a loop with a relatively sharp pointat the bend, means removably mounting the wire in the handle member withsaid point projecting a short distance from one end thereof comprising ametal socket mounted in the handle adjacent said end, a support for thewire loop comprising a metal shell removably mounted in the socketincluding a central contact at its inner end and conductor wiresconnecting the loop with the shell and central contact, a battery in thehandle having electrical connection with the socket and central contact,and switch means for controlling supply of current from the battery tothe loop for heating the wire and pointed end to form a dischargeopening in a nursing nipple by placing the projecting heated pointed endof the Wire against the nipple.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS1,363,897 Morgans Dec. 28, 1920 1,474,912 Raiche Nov. 20, 1923 1,744,720Blackburn Jan. 28, 1930 1,948,075 Miyaoka Feb. 20, 1934 2,620,428 DeGreen Dec. 2, 1952 2,669,644 Wetzel Feb. 16, 1954 FOREIGN PATENTS852,667 France Nov. 9, 1939

